Roll film camera with detachable magazine



y 1949. A. SIMMONAET AL ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE 6 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 28, 1944 A /fred S/mm 0/1 L 00/5 L We/sg/ass IN V EN TORS WM; 2. Mam

ATTORNEY May 3, 1949. A. SIMMON ET AL ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 28, 1944 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 A/frea 5/57/110/1 & m Wm .w. L m 0 L Wm 3 WM y 1949- A. SIMMON ET AL 2,469,008

ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 28, 1944 6 Shets-Sheet 3 A/fred 5/717/170/7 Lou/'5 L, welsg/ass IN V EN TORS BY/I/MZWZMW ATTORNEY May 3, 1949. A. SIMMON ET AL ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 28, 1944 v m E m. N N n E O V T WWW M Y B May 3, 1949.

A. SIMMON ET AL ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 28, 1944 R: mi

y 1949- A. SIMMON ET AL 2,469,008

ROLL FILM CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 28, 1944 e' Sheets-Sheet 6 A/fiea 5/771/110/7 Lou/:3 L. We/sg/ass IN V EN TORS A 7'TORNEY.

Patented May 3, 1949 ROIJL;v FILMi CAMERA WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINE Alfred Simmon, Jackson Heights, and Louis L.

Weisglass, New'York, N. Y., assignors to Simmon Blrothers, Inc., Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Applicationseptember 28, 1944, Serial N 0. 556,104

l Claim. 1

This, invention pertains to, the design of a stillf camera, as. distinguished from a motion picture camera, with a, detachable film.magazine. To. better. understandfthe object and advantages of this. invention. agbrief description of the. state of ,theart is presentedherewith.

A. camera. comprises. a, housing. which supports the, lens, theshu-tter and,the various other elements. of acamera. Inthecase of a.rl1 film camera, .thishousing has two cavities or, pockets, usually one. on either, side of the focal 1 21 which accept a loaded'and an empty, or take-up film spool, respectively, and between exposures the film is transferredlstep by step from the loadedtothe take-upspool.

Since it becomes frequently desirable to change from one. type of film. to some other type, for example, from ,ordinaryfilm tocolor film, before the entire. film supply in the camera is. exhausted, detachable film, magazines have been designed. They consist essentially. of. the aforementioned two pocketswhichare connected by, a suitable channel-and which ,now form .a separate detachable unit... Armagazine of thisgeneraltype is, for example, shown, in. #920,901. The necessarily large-bulk of these magazines is the reason iortheir relatively infrequentuse.

In modern cameras, automatic means are providedto advance the film andtensionthe shutter simultaneously, for example, by. turning a crank or, the like. The film advancing, means tend to become unduly, complicatedsince, during opera-. tion, the diameter ofthe take-up spool increases, which mustube compensated. for by some, means, usually by, automatically decreasing thenumber ofjrevolutions between exposures.

As a means of; simplification, perforated film was, introducedsome yearsago, which can be advancedby atoothed sprocket which between exposuresalways performs the same number of revolutions.

Cameras using perforated film are of'two general types:

In. the first type, the. film isv insertedin .one pocket, transferred duringoperation step by step into the other pocket, andfinally, after the. entire filmhas beenexposed, removedfrom the second pocket;

In: the second. type, the film is only temporarily stored'in the second pocket and isre: wound after its exposure, into the first pocket and eventually removed therefrom.

lneither case, driving means must be pro. vided-for the take-up spool, in the second pocket; but thisztakeeup'spool, clue to, its steadi y increas- 2" ing diameter, cannot be directlygeared to the aforementioned film-advancing sprocket, andtheuse of a-slip clutch or the like becomes necessary;

To avoid this added complication; spoof-less film receiving or film storage pockets have-been designed, in which the film was guidedonly by -a single spiral-shaped leaf spring. They have not been very successful, since these spiral springsdo not guide the film properly, introduce a large amount of friction, and accept only relatively short lengths of film. A spool-less film storage pocket of this general type is, for example, shown in Patent #2,336,278.

Perforated film is sometimes supplied in socalled cartridges, which are small, substantially cylindrical, containers for the loaded film spool; During operation, the cartridgerests in thefirs,t pocket of the camera housing, i. e. really a-hous ing within a housing, and the film is first, between exposures, wound into the secondpocket and stored there temporarily, and then rewound into the cartridge. This makes daylight loading)" possible, but attention must be called to the fact that, if partially exposed film is rewoun'd into the cartridge, the unused portion cannot be used later, since the operator has no means of'k'nowing where the exposed section'ends and the unexposed section begins. A, cartridge of this type is, for example, shown in Patent #2,019,672.

It is the purpose of our invention to provide-an improved camera forperforated roll film equipped with a detachable magazine. This is achievedby a combination of the following means? 1. The first film pocket, which before theexs posures is loaded with unexposed film and into which the exposed film is eventually rewound, is a detachable unit, namely the magazine proper. It is equipped with a crank driven film advancing sprocket and an exposure counter of novel design.

2. The film pocketin which the exposedfilmis temporarilystored, until it is rewound into-the first pocket, is an integral part of the. camera. housing.

3. Both pockets are equipped with a noveLarrangement of leaf springs which guide and C011.- fine the film without the. aidof spools.

4. Thecamera body is equipped .with auxiliary film driving means which cooperate with the film advancing. sprocket. built into the. detachable magazine.

This arrangement has the followingv advan: tages:

a. The detachable magazine becomes. quite small, since it comprises only one film pocket, and not two, as customary heretofore.

b. If the film is rewound into the detachable magazine after partial exposure, the unused portion may be exposed later, after a second insertion into the camera. This is made possible by the novel design of the exposure counter, which shows the operator how far the film has been exposed and where the unexposed part begins.

0. Due to the absence of spools, the film advancing and the film rewinding means become very simple, since driving means for the take-up spool and for the original spool, for rewinding, are no longer necessary.

d. The novel spool-less film supporting means, together with the built-in counter and crank driven film advan ing sprocket, render it quite simple to load the magazine with unexposed film from a film storage container, as well as to transfer later the exposed film from the magazine into a developing tank. This can be done without going into a dark-room and without touching the film by hand.

A preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figs. 1 to 8 show the detachable film magazine. Fig. 1 shows a plan view, Fig. 2 a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 22, indicated in Fig. '7. Figs. 3 and 4 crosswectional along the plane of line 33 and 4-4, respectively, indicated in Fig. 2, Fig. 5 a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 5-5 in Fig. '7, Fig. 6 a cross-sectional View in plane of line 5 -6 in Fig. 7, Fig. 7 a crosssectional view along the plane of line 1-4 in Fig. l, and Fig. 8 a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 88 in Fig. 1.

Figs. 9 and 10 show the camera to be used in conjunction with the detachable film magazine. Fig.9 shows a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 99 in Fig. 10, and Fig. 10 shows a crosssectional view along the plane of line Ill-l0 in Fig. 9.

Figs. 11 and 12 show the camera and the magazine as set for the last exposure.

DESCRIPTION OF MAGAZINE Housing The magazine comprises a housing which is preferably a die casting or molded Bakelite part, or made from sheet metal. This housing is shown in the drawings as 5i. Although it is shown as of one piece construction, it will be understood that in actuality it may be suitably subdivided in order to permit convenient manufacture and assembly. The housing must, of course, be provided with means for attaching it to the main camera body. The means shown for this purpose consist of two screws 52 and 53, Fig. 6, which can be rotated by knurled knobs 54. It is obvious, of course, that other means for attaching it to the camera housing can very well be used, such as a sliding arrangement or other methods well known in the art. A ridge 55 runs around the entire side of the magazine and engages a correspondingly formed ridge on the camera body so as to insure a light-tight connection. A slot 55 is provided. by means of which the film can be inserted into the magazine. This slot is lined with strips 5'! which are made from felt or velvet, or other suitable material. The purpose of these strips is to permit free passage of the film, but to prevent the entrance of light into the interior 'of the magazine. A soft, but slightly resilient material, such as felt, must be chosen so that the film will not be scratched during this process.

Sprocket drive In order to move the film either in or out of the magazine, at least one, but preferably two sprockets 58 are provided. These sprockets are mounted on a. shaft 59 and a bevel gear 60 is mounted on the upper end of the shaft. Bevel gear 60 meshes with another bevel gear Bl which is fastened to a shaft 62 which can be rotated by crank 63. The other end of shaft 52 terminates in a coupling element 64 which, in crosssection, has the configuration shown in Fig. 3. It is the purpose of this coupling element to engage a correspondingly formed end of another shaft which is mounted in the camera body and which forms an extension of shaft 62. The sprocket 58 is preferably designed in such a way that an even number of revolutions, such as one or two, is required in order to advance the film one frame. As shown, two revolutions are required. The perforated film is guided in its position opposite sprockets 58 by guide rollers 65. These are plain cylindrical rollers with a groove large enough to permit the free rotation of the teeth of the sprockets 58. In the drawings only one set of guide rollers 65 is shown, but it is sometimes advantageous to provide two sets, arranged in such a way that the film is guided in a more or less semicircular path around sprockets 58.

Film support The film support is characterized by the absence of a film spool and it is, therefore, no longer necessary to laboriously thread the leading end of the film into a slotted spool or the like.

The means to support the film within the magazine comprise a cylindrical core, which may or may not be rotatable, and a set of springs which force the film to wind itself tightly around said core. It is not necessary that the core extend through the entire width of the film and two flange-like discs on either end will serve this purpose quite well. Such discs 10 are shown in Figs. 5 and 1, and others. These discs may rotate on pivots II. This rotation is not strictly necessary, but a rotatable arrangement reduces friction. A set of leaf springs 12 is evenly spaced around the core 10 in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 5. While four springs have been shown, any other greater number may also be used should that appear advantageous. The width of the flanges 10 and of the leaf springs 12 is preferably chosen in such a way that they cover only the perforated margins of the film, but not that part of the film which is utilized for the actual picture. In this manner, any accidental damage, such as scratches which may occur during the winding process. will be of no consequence.

Exposure counter The exposure counter is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 7. It comprises a scale which is stationarily fastened to the magazine housing, and a rotatable ring 8| and disc 82, respectively. These elements carry marks 83 and 84, respectively, the purpose of which will be explained later. Ring 8| is rotated between exposures by the rotary movement of crank 63 through the medium of a suitable gear reduction. The reduction must be designed in such a way that ring 8| performs slightly less than one full revolution during the exposure of the entire film strip with which the ma az ne ss en. oa d T i se ed t o may be of any convenient design and merely as a matter-of illustration, we are showing a worm drive consisting of a worm 85 which drives the worm, gear 86.

The disc 82, which carries mark 84 is fastened to a rotatable cylindrical body 81 by means of a stud G l. This part rotates ona pivot $38, and it is necessary to provide a certain amount of friction so that the cylindrical part 8'; will not ac-- cidentally change its position. This can be done in a number of ways, for example, by means of a spring washer 853 as shown in Fig. 7. A ratchet arrangement would also serve this purpose. Two knurled knobs 98 are attached to disc ena bling the operator to reset'it manually, since this may. become necessary under certain conditions. As can be seen in Fig. 2, a part 9 23, which is merely a fiat sheet metal stamping, is fastened to worm gear 85. and rotates with it. As long as worm gear rotates in a clockwise direction it will, therefore, push stud 9! and therewith cylindrical part 81- anddisc 82 with its mark 3d. If, however, worm gear 84": is rotated in. a counter clockwise direction, stud 5! with the associated parts enumerated above will not follow, but will remain stationary in its last position.

The purpose of this arrangement will become clear later whenwe describe the operation of the device. It enables the operator to know which part of thefilm has been exposed and which part or the film is as yet unexposed.

In, order to make the device more nearly foolproof, it is desirable to provide two stops, so that the counter cannot be set below the zero mark or above the highest exposure number, in this case 36. These stops could conceivably be two pins or thelike put into the path of some suitable projection fastened to worm gear However, since the gear reduction is very appreciable, usually of the general order of 1:40 or 1:50, the operator can exert an extraordinary momentum, and these pins are, therefore, very liable to be broken accidentally. It is, therefore, preferable to provide some means to stop the motion of .iaft 52 directly, because the torque exercised by thev operator is then only or of the torque exercised through worm gear 86. For this reason, the worm gear 86 is equipped with projections 95 which are also shown in cross-section in Fig. 4. A protruding piece 95 is fastened to worm gear 85 and, in the two extreme positions, the protruding piece 96 will be in the rotary path of one ofthe projections 95 of the worm, either on one side or the other. The rotary motion of shaft 62 can, therefore, be stopped with oer-- tainty in either of the extreme positions, and the parts comprising this mechanism have to be merely strong enough to accept the simple torque exerted by the operator on crank--fi3 instead of 40 or 50 times that torque as otherwise necessa-ry.-

The ca-vityof the magazine housing containing the worm gear assembly has an opening hi5, Fig. 2; permitting the entrance of a lever Mil mounted on the camera. The purpose of this lever will be explained later. It can be seen inFig. l1.

Dsscerrrron or CAMERA Housing A camera cooperatingwith adetachable magazine, as described, is shown more or less schematically in Figs. 92and10. Itcomprises ahousing; lcl'; to which all other partsa-re fastened It will again e understood that although this h us n s hown o e of. a one pie ons ruci n it-wilL in real y, be suitablysubdiv ded or convenient manufacture and assembly. It will also be understood thatthenumerous component parts which are; necessary for a really complete camera, are shown only in a greatly simplified manner, Wehave, for example, shown the out line of a lens Hi2, but have not shown in great detail the focusing mount. We have also shown schematically two, rollers H13; for a focal plane shutter without going into detail. Other parts such as a, ranqefinder havebeen omitted since they do not form; part of'this invention.

The housing comprises a film, storage pocket sea which will be describedv in detail later, the auz iary film drive, which will also be described later, a film gate i915, and a pressure plate. I06 by means of which the film is held accurately; in the focal plane, and, a suitably machined side illito which the aforementioneddetachablef lm magazine can be attached. In Figs. 9 andlogthe magazine is shownin dotted. lines.

The entire housing of the camera with theiexception of the detachable film magazine is of reasonably,conventional construction and has: no particularly outstandingfeatures exceptmfor the detailed design of the film storagepocket: I04 the auxiliary film advancementdrive. The pressure plate its is shown to besupported by two leaf. springs its, but this is merely by; wayof example and other means to pressthe pressure plat against the film gate i ilicanbe conceivably used, or-may even be preferable. Particularly.

operated device may have certain advantages, since then, means can be providedfto exert pressure on the film only during the exposure; or at any-rate, after the film advancing-movement has been finished, and. during'the film advancement itself the pressure plate can be retracted. This will" reduce friction and possible damage to the film.

Film storage pocket The filmstorage pocket comprises-a substanycylindrical housing which is an integral part of the main camera housing m I. Eilmoon; fining means are arranged within this cylindrical part of the camera housing. These film confining means are very similar or identicalgto'the film confining means used with-in the detachable magazine described above. They comprise twocylindrical cores l lib which are preferably rotatable and, inthis case, pivots: Ill are provided for this purpose... A. set of leaf springs its force the film, whiohisfed into this storage pock t, to wind themselves rather tightly around the two cores I I0.

Film drive film in this manner from the film magazine throughthe aforementioned channel right: into the film storage pocket HM. However, it.has;be en found advantageous to provide auxiliary means: to propelthe filmin this manner in order to reduce the-freelengthsover which the film, by its: own

stiffness; has-to sustain the forwardmotion; At first'glance; itzwould-"appear most logical .to-lprovide anotherset of sprockets exactly identical with sprockets 53 immediately; in front of the entrance into I the film storage, pocket; l04r; and

to connect this second set of sprocket gears to the first one by suitable mechanical means such as achain drive or a transverse shaft and two sets of bevel gears. In practice, a device of this character will be extremely harmful to the film perforation and will invariably damage the film severly. This is due to the fact that the spacing of the perforated holes changes slightly due to film shrinkage, and while this shrinkage rarely amounts to more than 1 or 2% of the original film length, it is enough to make any accurate meshing of the perforated holes with more than one set of sprockets quite impossible. The same problem is encountered in motion picture projectors, but there the film forms a large loop so that any discrepancies can be taken up. Obviously, this expedient is inappropriate in this case.

This difficulty can be overcome by designing the auxiliary film drive within the camera as a friction drive. The rollers used for this purpose can be seen in Fig. 9. We are using two relatively large rollers I I2, approximately as large as the spockets 58 which are opposed by smaller rollers H8. The film, as will be explained later, passes between the two sets. It is desirable to provide a suitable resilient mounting for one of these shafts in order to insure sufficient friction. It is also best to have those rollers made from some relatively soft material such as Bakelite. The rollers l I2 are mounted on a shaft 1 53 which, by means of two bevel gears i M and i5, is driven by a transverse shaft H8. This transverse shaft has an end piece of square configuration H! which fits into the correspondingly formed socket of the coupling element 64 of the detachable film magazine. As can be clearly seen in Fig. 10, the movement of the crank which causes rotation of the two sprockets 58 within the film magazine also causes a, corresponding rotation of friction rollers H2 within the camera. The diameter of friction rollers i 5?. should be slightly larger than the diameter obtained by theoretical computation because then the film will be under a certain amount of tension which is advantageous in order to keep it fiat.

It is a well known expedient in cameras of this type to connect the film advancing with the shutter tensioning movement. In this camera, this can easily be done by mounting suitable gears on shaft H53 and connecting them to one of the rollers of the :focal plane shutters l". This is not shown in our drawings since expedients of this type are well known.

OPERATION Exposures Before the magazine is attached to the camera by means of the two knurled scre :s the short end of film protruding through slot 55 is inserted into a corresponding slot in the camera housing. The operator now rotates crank 8-3 in a forward direction, causing sprocket 58 to rotate. thereby propelling the film into the channel formed by pressure plate 195 and film gate EES. Eventually, the film is engaged by the two fric tion rollers 1 i2 and I Hi and with their aid, pushed into the film storage pocket NM. The co-action of the film, the cylindrical body H0 and the set of leaf springs H9 is identical to the action of the corresponding elements in the film magazine itself, 1. e.. the film is wrapped around the cylindrical body I ill, and subsequent convolutions will be wrapped around the first convolution. Between exposures, the worm gear 86 rotates, and

part 96% assumes a new position completely out of contact with either of the two projections 95. At the same time, stamping 98 pushes stud 91 into a new position, thereby causing mark 84 to rc in in register with mark 63. Both marks po it now to a certain dial marking on the exposure dial, thereby indicating the number of the exposure for which the camera is ready or the number of exposures which have already been taken.

Removal of magazine after partial exposure of the film if we assume that at this stage the operator desires to exchange the film used in the camera for some other type of film, for example, color 1111, he must first wind the entire film back into t This is simply done by rotatcc magazine. ng crank @3 backwards. Should there be any e shutter setting means, these nust, of course,

be disconnected. lilleans to th end are well know in the a:u and are, vierefore, not shown rere. After the film been rewound, mark 553 c. to its original position and is ag zero mark of the dial. Mark hoWcveL, has 1". ned stationary and still points to the la t dial marking before the film was rewound. This is caused by the fact that l 5 count r-clockwise movement nding process gets out of con- Sl. Stud 9! is fastened to the ndrical body 8'! which, as explained above, is neld stationary by friction provided for this purpose. see

. has been rewound this man- .gezine can be detached from the camera loosening the knurled knobs 54, and a new loaded with another kind of film can be substitute Rcz'nserzion of partially exposed film counting such a procedure would not only be cumbersome and i'.-convenient, but extremely dangerous,

double exposures may spoil valuable negatives previously taken.

With a device built accor ing to our invention, partially exposed film can be reinserted into the camera. quickly, conveniently and with accuracy so that there is no danger of double exposures. It is merely necessary to attach the magazine to the camera again rotate crank 53 in the forward direction, whereupon mark 33 will begin to travel in a clock. se direction. This rotation is continued until marks 83 and 84 are in register again, i. e., until the appearance of the dial i .33 has b n changed back to the last positron before rev The operator now knows with certainty that all the previously exposed part of the film has been transferred from the magazine to the film storage pocket 104 of the housing, and that the first unexposed frame is Last exposure For the last exposure, a problem arises, due to the fact that the counting device, as shown in Fig. 2, is equipped with automatic stops which prevent further rotation of the film advancing means in one direction when the magazine is entirely empty. In other words, the automatic stop will prevent rotation of crank 63' and sprocket 58 only after the magazine has become entirely empty or after the film has lost contact with the sprockets 58. Obviously, it can then no longer be rewound into the magazine by rotating crank 53 backwards. In order to overcome this difficulty, we have provided auxiliary means mounted on the camera housing to prevent the rotation of the film advancing means in the forward direction slightly before the magazine becomes entirely empty. These means. will; of course, be effective only when the magazine is attached to the housing. It will not affect the ready removal of the film from the magazine when the magazine is detached from the camera housing.

This auxiliary automatic stop for the film advancing means is shown in Fig. 11, and the appearance of the exposure counting dial at this time is shown in Fig. 12. Almost the entire film is now stored in pocket I04 which forms part of the camera housing. A short end of film, however, still remains in the film magazine and, most important, the sprocket 58 is still securely in mesh with some of the perforation holes of the film.

Fig. 11 shows the camera partly in cross-section along the plane of line II-II in Fig. 10. A lever I40 is mounted on the camera housing. This lever is supported rotatably by a pivot I4l, biased .2

by a spring I42 and assumes ordinarily the position shown in dotted lines.

The housing of the detachable film magazine has a slot I45, which permits the end of lever I40 to reach into the interior of the cavity of the magazine which contains the worm gear assembly of the exposure counter.

Lever I40 does not ordinarily, i. e. in the position shown in dotted lines, interfere with the rotary movement of the worm gear 85, and particularly it is out of the path of the projecting piece 95 mounted on the left side of said worm. Worm gear 86 rotates between exposures in a clockwise direction carrying with it the protruding piece 96. Eventually, this protruding piece 96 comes in contact with the extreme end of lever I40 moving it from the position shown in dotted lines into the position shown in solid lines. In this position, lever I40 is in the rotary path of the left projecting part 95 associated with worm 85 and thereby prevents its further rotation. The rotation of worm gear 86 is now stopped somewhat earlier than when the magazine was unattached, or more specifically, when the magazine is not attached to the camera, the marks 83 and 84 will point in the extreme position at the dial line 38, but when the magazine is attached to the camera, it will not be possible to move them that far, but they will come to a stop earlier, for example, at dial line 34, as shown in Fig. 12. Therefore, as long as the magazine is attached to the camera, it becomes automatically impossible for the operator to wind the film accidentally too far out of the magazine and to disengage the film en- 10 tirely from the film driving sprocket wheels 58, and the film can always be rewound into the magazine.

While this description fully discloses the construction and operation of a camera with a detachable roll film magazine according to the principles of our invention, the same is of course, susceptible to many modifications. For example, while we have consistently described one film storage pocket as being as integral part of the housing and only the second film storage pocket to be detachable, it is perfectly conceivable to make both pockets individually detachable. It has already been suggested by others to incorporate a knife within a camera in order to cut the exposed portions of the film off the unexposed portions. Such a knife could be used in connection with two detachable pockets, thereby avoiding the necessity of rewinding the film into the original pocket before exchanging films. It would also be possible to use the device for unperforated film instead of for perforated film as shown. In this case, the sprockets 58 could be replaced by plain friction rollers without teeth. While such a design will not be as accurate as the one shown, it may, under certain circumstances, be satisfactory.

Other modifications will readily occur to anybody skilled in the art, and modifications of this character shall be considered to fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claim.

What we claim as new is:

In a camera with a detachable roll film magazine, film advancing means, exposure counting means, automatic means to stop the movement of said film advancing means after a predetermined length of film has been advanced, all supported within the magazine, and means to modify said automatic means supported within the camera itself; said film advancing means comprising a first relatively fast rotating shaft; said exposure counting means comprising a train of gears driven by said first shaft, and a second relatively slowly rotating shaft driven by said train of gears; said automatic means to stop the movement of said film advancing means comprising a first and a second projection carried by said first shaft, a first movable obstruction and means actuated by said second shaft to move said first obstruction into the path of the first of said projections after a predetermined length of film has been advanced in a first direction in which the film is wound into the magazine, and to move said obstruction into the path of the second projection, after a predetermined length of film has been advanced in a second direction in which the film is wound out of the magazine; said means to modify said automatic means comprising a second movable obstruction supported within the camera and adapted to be placed automatically between the second of said projections and said first obstruction, when said magazine is attached to said camera; whereby, when said magazine is detached from said camera, the movement of said film advancing means is stopped by the coaction of the first projection with said first obstruction after a predetermined length of film has been advanced in the first direction, the magazine then being fully loaded, and by the coaction of the second projection with said first obstruction after the same length of film has been advanced in the second direction, the magazine then being entirely empty and whereby, when said magazine is attached to 11 said camera, the movement of said film advancing means is again stopped by said coaction of the first projection and said first obstruction after the same predetermined length of film has been advanced in the first direction, the magazine then again being fully loaded, and by the coaction of the second projection and said second obstruction after another, but shorter, predetermined length of film has been advanced in the second direction, the magazine then stiil containing a short length of film, said first obstruction pushing said second obstruction into the path of said second projection.

ALFRED SIMMON.

LOUIS L. WEISGLASS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 525,786 Lewis Sept. 11, 1894 920,901 Bander May 11, 1909 1,036,385 Vale Aug. 20, 1912 1,232,125 Trippel July 3, 1917 1,250,792 Burdette Dec. 18, 1917 Number Number 12 Name Date Newman Apr. 7, 1925 Fairchild May 12, 1931 Paul May 19, 1931 Powers Nov. 17, 1931 Mihalyi Feb. 20, 1934 Nagel Dec. 11, 1934 Barenyi Aug. 27, 1935 Kilfitt May 5, 1936 Piatt Sept. 21, 1937 Wittel Oct. 12, 1937 Roessel Mar. 7, 1939 Mihalyi Mar. 14, 1939 Nelson Mar. 14, 1939 Nuchterlein Nov. 14, 1939 Pollock Jan. 16, 1940 Goldberg Dec. 17, 1940 Houston Apr. 8, 1941 Lockhart Oct. 13, 1942 Mihalyi Dec. 7, 1943 Simmon Feb. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Sept. 13, 1931 Germany Apr. 21, 1936 Germany June 28, 1938 

